Did Pepsi try ONE too many times?

It was a biting little story done by ABC News, detailing a less than sterling debut for Pepsi's one-calorie super drink, Pepsi One.

Seems the brand - which Pepsi still says will eventually stoke the kitty at Bottomline USA - has faltered, initially jumping to 2 percent share after its

OK, I'll admit it: I never thought that much of Pepsi One, especially since the soft drink giant already had Diet Pepsi in the mix. And I'm already on record as liking Diet Pepsi better.

Pepsi One was never that special to begin with. What was the message? Tastes better? Better than what? This is a classic case of putting a new paint job on an old idea, one that was not significantly or uniquely different from any of the diet drink alternatives already on the market. And when you put $100 million behind something, it definitely needs to be special.

Consumers CAN'T be fooled! Pepsi promised a "difference-maker," and Pepsi One is nowhere near that.

Hey, guys, I don't want to rattle the corporate cage, and Pepsi is a great player, but somebody inside failed to ask the tough questions. Rolling out a costly new launch on the premise that it tastes better than all the other diet drinks is a tad risky. They banked it all on winning the consumer perception battle. Apparently consumers aren't smart enough to tell that Pepsi One is a better-tasting product. Must be a subliminal thing.

Of course, Pepsi says it's way too early to make any final judgments about Pepsi One, and they're right.

I hope I'm all wrong about this, for Pepsi's sake. But I could've thought of a lot better things to do with $100 million than spend it behind a product that is OK, maybe even good, but clearly not the category booster Pepsi thought it was.

Miller can't get wholesalers to "cheer" for ads

Having grown up in Milwaukee, there is this little "home boy" in me that wants Miller Brewing Co. to get back in the beer game.

Right now, it is more like the sacrificial lamb in the path of the Anheuser-Busch steamroller, and try as it may, Miller can't seem to win back the momentum it once had with its Miller Lite franchise.

Miller's recent marketing strategies have proved unworthy against the efforts of the St. Louis-based beer monster with its array of frogs and lizards.

But how about the recent "insult" when a packed audience of wholesalers at Miller's national sales meeting showed absolutely no emotion when the company aired its new Miller Genuine Draft campaign? So Miller did the right thing: It canned the ads before they even hit the air waves.

What Miller ought to do is take a good look at the agency (Portland, Ore.-based Wieden & Kennedy) that thought brewery employees cheerleading MGD on TV would draw a "wow" on the excitement meter. And that's what Miller needs, a big Wow! on the excitement meter.

Why not something funny, long-lasting, like cartoonish "hops" debating whose beer they want to jump into? Make the characters as compelling as the frogs and lizards, give them identity, market them.

If that's a bad idea, then something, anything, that will help Miller reclaim at least some of the momentum it lost.